In February 2014, the South East Regional French Language Network* offered a one-day training event for the bilingual staff of the MCSS and the MCYS and transfer payment agencies serving Kingston. The goal of the event was to support and encourage bilingual staff working within largely Anglophone organizations, some of whom are the only French-speaking staff members in their workplace.
The event was designed to strengthen their confidence in their job as bilingual professionals by providing them with tools and resources. It was an opportunity to engage and network for the 60 participants from various French-speaking social services organizations as well as OPS ministries and agencies.
The agenda for the learning sessions included discussions on bilingual customer service, an introduction to Antidote, online training resources in French and interactive group discussions focused on the health, justice and social services sectors. Following the event, a facilitator’s guide and toolkit were developed so that the event could be easily replicated in other communities.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 11 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually recognize the leadership shown by government ministries and agencies that have made efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2013-2014 Annual Reporthere.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)* is the reference framework used at the international level to describe the proficiency of learners of a second language, including French. It was designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the development of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.
In the past four years, the CEFR has been deployed in Ontario’s 60 English-language school boards as a tool to inform planning, instruction and assessment practices in French-as-a-second-language (FSL) courses. This initiative represents a commitment to helping Core French, Extended French and French Immersion students to improve their functional French-language skills. In applying these international guidelines, the Ontario government is committed to
increasing student confidence, proficiency and achievement;
increasing the percentage of students studying FSL until graduation;
increasing student, educator, parent and community engagement in FSL.
This common framework of reference could also possibly be a good basis for discussion among governments and the private sector to develop a common basis of assessment of language skills, as opposed to everyone having different standards. To be followed.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 11 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually recognize the leadership shown by government ministries and agencies that have made efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2013-2014 Annual Reporthere.
The Road Safety Marketing Office has made progress in reaching out to Francophone stakeholders. All grant funding applications are available in French, and a concerted effort to share them with Francophone stakeholders in all areas designated under the French Language Services Act has paid off, as it has allowed the Ministry of Transportation to create new partnerships with these stakeholders.
Several groups, including the “Club Optimiste de Vanier”, the “Club Optimiste de BFC”and Hawkesbury’s “Comitéd’action régionale de la sécuritéroutière”, have already taken advantage of funding for their respective road safety initiatives, Road Safety Challenge activities and upcoming seatbelt campaigns.
By partnering with Francophone stakeholders and communities, the Ministry supports their growth and inclusion through its service delivery approach.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 11 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually recognize the leadership shown by government ministries and agencies that have made efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2013-2014 Annual ReportThe full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
On a monthly basis, the Waterloo Wellington LHIN holds a mental health “Café”for discussions and information-sharing on the management of mental health cases. The program has been expanded to include French-speaking psychologists and to make it accessible either in person or via telemedicine. The Cafénow invites members of the Francophone community to meet with a French-speaking psychologist to discuss various topics and share best practices when dealing with difficult situations or challenging cases. Although Waterloo Wellington is one of the fastest-growing and increasingly diverse regions in Ontario, it is not a designated area under the French Language Services Act.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 11 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually recognize the leadership shown by government ministries and agencies that have made efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2013-2014 Annual Reporthere.
Continuing with its development of the Integrated Health Service Plan 2013-2016, the Central East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) has invited Entité 4 [Entity # 4] – one of six French Language Health Planning Entities – to join its staff in order to launch a series of Francophone community engagement initiatives regarding the Central-East LHIN Integrated Health Strategic Plan. This plan seeks to prioritize issues of mental health and addictions, diabetes and vascular health, palliative and end of life care, as well as creating a system of care for frail seniors.
Three focus groups were hosted in August and September 2012 consisting of Francophone residents and organizations in Scarborough, Peterborough and the Durham Region in order to contribute to the development of this Strategic Plan by providing their insights. In addition, an online survey was made available in French and was actively promoted by the LHIN and Entité 4. The Central-East LHIN’s comprehensive Integrated Health Strategic Plan document was then launched on its website in both English and French.
Moving forward, the Central-East LHIN is committed to working together with Entité 4 throughout the duration of its Integrated Health Strategic Plan over the next few years to develop a joint action plan which will focus on the Central-East LHIN’s strategic aims and priorities that benefit the Francophone community throughout the next three years. This is certainly a promising effort that should prove to be constructive for all the parties involved.
With this blog post, I am concluding the series of 15 honourable mentions blog posts. If you haven’t had a chance to read the other posts that are part of the series, be sure to check out the full list of honourable mentions from my 2012-2013 Annual Report.
The Waterloo Wellington LHIN recommended to Dr. Madan to contact the French Language Services Coordinator for the region who assisted him with his application by engaging the Francophone community to write letters of support as well as contributing a report regarding the Francophone community in Waterloo Wellington.
In 2011, Dr. Madan received approval of the Ministry to proceed with the development of the Family Health Team and the approval was very much conditional on the provision of French services. In order to provide mental health services, a partnership was created with Trellis who by then had developed a French telemedicine mental health program and all clients of the Family Health Team had access to this service.
Since then, the Mango Tree Family Health Team has expended and a new Kitchener based satellite has opened in the summer. This location will be staffed with a French-speaking physician as well as a French-speaking nurse practitioner.
I wish to congratulate all those who contributed to this great success. Although Waterloo-Wellington is not a designated area under the French Language Services Act, it is of course excellent news that Francophones in the region can now count on dynamic teams to offer them the French-language health services they need.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
